Bargain in my eyes and lots cheaper than TUI and TCook.
Pax are allowing themselves to be treated like muppets. It is only 17 years ago that (I think it was) BMI started charging for baggage. Easyjet & others said they would watch with interest. They saw no reduction in pax numbers so climbed aboard the add-ons train very quickly and turned it into an art form. From that RYR redefined customer service is that nothing is for free. Ez did there same and now it has fed through to national carriers. Pax are now brain washed that this is the norm. There is a generation or 2 that have never known anything else. Now pax are punch drunk into believing that it is necessary to pay to reserve a block of seats so that all pax on the same booking ref can sit together. What they should be asking is why are all pax on a single booking ref not being put together as the norm. Pax are allowing the tail to wag the dog and rolling over to ask for more of this c#$p. To suggest that one airline charging only £2 is OK because others charge £4 is mind boggling crassness. There should be no charge for a seat unless it is in some form of upgrade. An economy seat is an economy seat. Sitting next to your colleague traveller on the same booking ref should be the standard norm. Point!.
Like to old joke about an airline CEO walking into a pub. The tempting advert outside had said Guinness, the cheapest in town; only 50p a pint." The CEO orders one at the bar. The barman asked, "will you be wanting a glass with that? And are you going to sit down? Will that be on a cheap bar stool or a premium lounge chair? Have you pre-reserved one?" etc. etc. The final price for a pint of guinness in a chair rises from 50p to £5.